Of Protective Older Brothers and Such
by Hell Jashin
Summary: Itachi believes that no one, not even himself, is good enough for his beloved Otouto. ItaSasu, SasuNeji. (No longer an one-shot.)


**Disclaimer: All the characters in Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

**Warnings: Yaoi, slight incest**

**Pairings: Uchihacest, SasuNeji**

**A/N: As a tribute to my three favorite Naruto characters this holiday season, I have written this one-shot fanfiction. It's quite out of its own element since Sasuke isn't portrayed as innocently as in my other ones, but nevertheless, I hope you all enjoy!**

**Part 1: Of Protective Older Brothers and Such**

Sasuke Uchiha grinned at the blonde bartender who slid a bottle of beer that he had requested across the counter. It fitted perfectly into his extended palm, open and icy cold. Ignoring the onyx eyes that were staring disapprovingly at him from across the club, Sasuke took three big gulps from his bottle and saluted to the smirking bartender who moved away to serve another customer.

The man behind the counter hadn't asked for anything, neither conversation nor ID, and Sasuke appreciated the gesture. Distant, yet indulging. He liked it.

Five more gulps and the bottle was drained, leaving a tickling sensation in his throat as he set the bottle down.

"Can I get another?" he asked, gesturing at the man. He was quickly awarded a new one, and this time the seventeen-year-old slid him a twenty. "Keep the change."

The man smirked once more and pocketed the bill. "How kind of you."

Sasuke raised his bottle in acknowledgment and once again was left on his own to brood while his brother played nice with his friends. And yet, even so, he had glanced over at Sasuke more than once already, the second time happened seconds ago when he had received another bottle. Jesus, when was Itachi going to come to the realization that leaving him home alone for a few hours wouldn't cause the world to end? As opposed to bringing him along every time he wanted to go out with friends, the safety of their home should have been his brother's primary choice.

And now, here he was at a club two hours past his bedtime. Sasuke hid a yawn behind his drink and finally set it down. He was going to swirl around in his stool and pass the time by observing the heavy crowd that was expected on any given Friday night, but someone leaned against the counter next to him, which blocked his ability to swivel.

"Can I buy you a drink?" a deep, masculine voice asked.

Although Sasuke hadn't looked in his direction, he knew he was being stared at. "I'm not old enough," he said over the music.

"And yet you're here," the voice commented with a hint of amusement, referring to the "21 and over" rule.

Sasuke spared the man a glance, disinterest leaving his countenance as he looked the guy up and down, taking in the long, dark hair and pretty, milky-white eyes. A small smirk slid over his face and he nodded to refer to the man's overall demeanor. "What are you, the police?" he jested, making a show of downing half of his bottle as a bold, gesticular motion as if daring the man to say more.

The smirk was returned with one mirroring it and an outstretched hand. "Neji, Neji Hyuuga," he introduced.

Normally, shaking hands wasn't something that the Uchiha had done. On his opponent's part, it was usually an excuse to touch him or make him uncomfortable. Nevertheless, Sasuke wasn't so against shaking Neji's hand.

"Sasuke, Sasuke Uchiha," he mimicked.

The grip was firm, yet not overpoweringly so. Neji's hand was quite large, but they were also warm and delivered a good shake. The Hyuuga also released Sasuke's hand, never lingering or surpassing the commonly held three-second business handshake. He then gestured to the bartender who approached with a bottle of tequila, a plate of lime wedges, and two shot glasses.

The man looked between the two and seemed to pour the drinks at an angle that hid his face, but Sasuke noticed his lips tugging upward in what seemed to be the partaking of a silent joke.

He raised an eyebrow at the choice of liquor, taking note of the fact that the Neji didn't have to place his order in order for the preferable one to be served. "Didn't peg you for the hard liquor type," he commented, aware that Itachi was now glaring holes into his companion's being.

"Didn't peg you to be a beer person" was the retort, "unless you wanted to sulk away your worries with something cheap and not suffer a financial crisis after."

At that, Sasuke smirked. "Touché."

Their glasses clinked, and Neji and Sasuke downed their glasses and sucked on a lime wedge.

"So, are you here alone?"

The Uchiha shrugged as Neji made himself comfortable in the seat next to him. "In all technicality, no, I'm not. But, according to social bonds and relationships, yes."

"Interesting," Neji uttered at the unexpected response. Most people would have simply gone for a one-word reply, but Sasuke didn't seem to fit the "most people" category. "Do go on."

"I can say I get approached quite often, one of the reasons I'm not alone most of the time."

"You don't appreciate being approached?" asked the brunette.

"It's quite the flattery," Sasuke conceded, taking a swig of his beer as Neji asked for the tequila bottle to be left at the counter, "but not when half of them are old enough to be my parents." He set his beer down and reached for the glass, said his cheers, and gulped it down. Neji followed suit with a smirk. "Your approach, on the other hand," Sasuke narrated with a playful glint in his eyes, "does wonders to my ego."

For such a comment, Neji eyes lit up and he had to laugh. The flattery went both ways: the boy, himself, was the most beautiful being that Neji had laid eyes on.

"So if not technically alone, who are you here with?" he asked, taking note of the way the boy's face scrunched as if he tasted something particularly unpleasant.

The boy turned at a ninety degree angle, only enough to nod across the dance floor where a group of college students crowded together in a booth. "See that black-haired guy that looks all worked up, wearing the maroon button-up?"

Neji glanced in said direction and noticed a man glaring daggers at him as if he wished his scowl could set him on fire. It seemed overly protective, but Neji couldn't be sure. A look akin to sympathy of sorts passed his face as if he understood his pains. "Ex-boyfriend?" he asked.

"Brother," was the matter-of-fact, monotonic reply.

"Ahh," the Hyuuga muttered as they turned to face away from the older Uchiha. He refilled the two glasses and held one out to Sasuke. "To overprotective, older brothers," he said, and Sasuke reached for the glass.

"Ditto."

**-H.J.-**

"Oooh, sexy guy at twelve o'clock!" gushed Deidara in excitement.

Itachi Uchiha looked up abruptly from his highball. His sudden action wasn't caused by his interest in picking up the said "sexy guy." In fact, he had no interest in much of anything these days but his dear younger brother who had decided that he didn't want to be followed to the bar. Not at all. His attentiveness was due to the fact that this _guy _could potentially be trying to get into Sasuke's pants.

He knew very well that Sasuke's attention tended to stray when he was bored and at one in the morning, there was nothing Itachi expected from Sasuke's behavior more than sleepiness... or flirtation to satiate his boredom.

Taking a single glance in the boy's direction, his fears were confirmed as Itachi's increasingly angry, dark orbs settled on said "sexy guy." From the distance, he would not deny that the teenager currently chatting up his brother was attractive. Perhaps, he would even concur that he was quite alluring if Itachi's interests were not placed elsewhere. But indeed, they had been and possessiveness swelled within his chest as he continued to watch Sasuke openly accept the brunette's companionship.

For once in his life, Itachi felt that his decision to bring Sasuke with him tonight was an erroneous one that would cause him pain and hurt if he didn't attend to it.

_Ah, but what to do? _

Although he had his indestructible pride, Itachi wasn't so blinded by it to realize that the burning sensation in his chest was the result of jealousy coursing through him. His hand shook as he reached for his glass and gulped it down entirely, leaving behind the ice that clinked heavily against the glass.

Itachi narrowed his eyes as gentle brushes were exchanged between the two. The elbows bumping as the shot glasses thudded against the counter could have been dismissed as casual, but the older Uchiha could read his brother like a book. He was flirting with the man. The way the young Uchiha's fingers danced along the rim of the glass, the way his shoulders trembled as if he was silently laughing at something, and the way responded to each other's movements proved to Itachi that they had clicked.

Hidan's drunken laughter pierced through Itachi's concentration, adding greatly to his anger in the process. "Better keep a good eye out for him or that gorgeous brother of yours would be doing the dirty with Mister Sex Appeal over there," he said, his slurred words causing Itachi to momentarily break his gaze away from Sasuke to glare at the silver-haired man.

"Watch your mouth," he hissed, eyes flashing dangerously and lips drawn in a tight line to conceal his gritted teeth. He didn't like the sound of such asinine comments. It made him feel inadequate as if he failed as a brother to love and take care of Sasuke like he should have.

To make matters worse, when he turned around to settle a watchful eye on Sasuke again, the boy and the brunette were gone.

**-H.J.-**

"Fuck," groaned Sasuke as his body made contact with the wall in a dim hallway adjacent to the bathroom. They had left the main room as quickly as two bunny rabbits ready and eager to hump each other out. And the decision had not been a foul one, judging by the way Neji slammed his hands against the wall immediately, entrapping Sasuke's head in between the two barriers as devoured Sasuke's mouth with his tongue and lips.

The young Uchiha pushed back with the same intensity, shoving his tongue into Neji's mouth and caressing every inch of the other man's cavern. He made sure nowhere was left unexplored, and the Hyuuga made that quite easy for Sasuke because he tasted addicting, like vanilla, despite the traces of tequila on his breath.

His tongue didn't stay in Neji's mouth for long. The older boy slammed his body against Sasuke's arching one, shoving his body against the wall earning Neji a loud gasp. He took the chance to push the boy's tongue out of his mouth and back into his own. Their tongues danced in the Uchiha's mouth briefly before Neji broke the kiss.

Sasuke shivered as Neji began to trail hot kisses down the length of his neck. Anticipation racked his mind and body as he tilted his head to allow more access to the teasing sucks. The kisses trailed down his neck for a few seconds before the brunette's mouth moved to his earlobe to give it a nip.

"Think you're so slick, baby?" Neji whispered hoarsely against his ear, referring to Sasuke's momentary dominance in their shared make out session. The brunette didn't allow sufficient time for Sasuke to respond because he resealed his lips over the Uchiha's and, quite easily according to the ravenette, stole his breath away.

Sasuke moaned into the kiss, and his hands began to creep up the other man's shirt inch by inch. Another groan escaped his lips when his wandering fingers made contact with chiseled, hard abs and the ravenette couldn't help but trace them with his hands repeatedly.

The brunette noticed this little fact. He pulled away from the kiss and watched with hungry, yet amused eyes as Sasuke's fingers danced up and down the length of his torso.

"Found something you like, baby?" he asked, smirking when the boy licked his lips at the question.

"God, yes," Sasuke moaned in response. His fingers finally stopped playing when he realized lips were no longer on him, and the Uchiha wove his hands under the pits of the brunette's arms and raked his dull nails down the man's back. "Now kiss me," he demanded, eager to feel those talented lips on his own.

The amusement slipped off of Neji's face, darkening his features intensely. Both of his hands dropped heavily onto the younger boy's shoulders before they began to trail down the length of his torso and the dip near his hips. Neji's hands smoothly slid down the curve of Sasuke's back before they squeezed the Uchiha's ass forcefully.

"So impatient, Sasuke," he growled, but nevertheless he dove forward and painted those beautiful lips red.

The kiss was as hard as it was passionate, completely riveting to Sasuke. He loved feeling ravished. It consumed him with a greater desire to tear through the man's clothes and suck him dry.

Sasuke moaned under the ministrations. His lips were being greedily devoured; his ass was being kneaded by skillful hands; and his pelvis was being crushed against another, beginning a slow, sensual gyration.

It felt so good. Everything felt so good. He loved the way Neji said his name in such a low, breathy growl. He loved the way the man called him "baby"; the word brought out his desperately carnal side and every time it was uttered, he felt hot like molten lava.

"You taste so fucking good," he had heard amidst his loud moans and the sweet pleasure traveling down his body and pooling at the base of his manhood.

Sasuke craned his neck as the kisses began to trail down his face to his neck. He didn't even think about the consequences of his brother flipping out when Neji began to suck hard at the juncture between his neck and collarbone.

With his neck being sucked and hips bucking against the hard, clothed cock, Sasuke's nails couldn't resist scraping down Neji's back. The man hissed against his neck and triumph gleamed underneath the lids of Sasuke's eyes because he knew that either welts were beginning to form or his nails drew blood.

It was expected of him though. The young Uchiha was extremely sensitive when it came his neck. "Sensitive", in his case, was tantamount to lustful. He loved it when his neck sucked, but had no control over most of his actions in the few rare moments someone did pay special attention to it.

"M-more," he gasped, but the Hyuuga had already withdrawn from his neck and was now looking at him with the most arousing look that Sasuke had ever seen.

"I'd give it to you all, baby," Neji purred, "but right now, I want you in my mouth."

That had been the only warning that Sasuke had before his jeans were unbuttoned and yanked down to his thighs along with his briefs. The brunette had crouched down to his knees, hands leaving Sasuke's ass to push against the Uchiha's hips as his mouth moved forward and fully engulfed Sasuke's length into his mouth.

"F-fuck," Sasuke groaned, as his hands turned into fists and smashed themselves backward into the wall behind him. Neji's mouth was a combination of heat and wetness that fully enraptured the Uchiha. His tongue played with the underside of his manhood, taking long, swift strokes as he added the suction that had been administered to Sasuke's neck.

Half-hooded onyx eyes watched as Neji's mouth moved skillfully up and down his dick, alternating between deep sucks and long licks. Before Sasuke knew what he was doing, he reached both hands forward and entangled them into the man's hair, kneading and tugging- doing anything in his power to stave off his need to drag the man into a room, strip him naked, and get fucked.

He tried to buck forward, to feel the man's warm breath at the base of his cock, but the brunette's hands prevented him from doing so. Sasuke writhed against the wall, fingers ceaselessly massaging into the man's hair. He knew he wouldn't last long, and he knew that Neji knew.

"Like that!" the ravenette moaned when the brunette moved to suck at the head of his cock. One of Neji's hand had left Sasuke's hip and reached to cup his heavy balls, rolling and adding a slight pressure to them every so often. "Fuck," he moaned throatily as he threw his head back, accidentally hitting the wall behind him.

But Sasuke was too encapsulated in his lustful world, too oblivious to everything in his surroundings besides the man in front of him that he didn't notice hard, dark eyes belonging to a six feet tall, _enraged_ man stomping in his direction.

In fact, Sasuke was at the point of bliss that, when his fingers tightened drastically in Neji's silky, soft hair and he groaned a 'I'm cumming', his blurry vision could only make out a well-built, long-haired man who looked like his brother headed in their direction.

With another whimper, Sasuke couldn't care any less about anything aside from his release. He did his best to keep his eyes open, watching as rivets of his cum splashed into Neji's awaiting mouth. The young Uchiha licked his lips, hips bucking only lightly now as a few drops of his milky white substance dribbled down the brunette's mouth.

The heat emanating from the man disappeared suddenly and Sasuke, still disoriented, was slow to pick up the fact that his brother had arrived at the scene of his release.

Things happened so quickly that it was just a blur to Sasuke's still half-lidded eyes. When he came to his senses, Sasuke watched in horror as a trembling Itachi gripped onto the back of Neji's shirt and pulled him backwards, shoving him away from the young Uchiha and towards the ground.

Snapping out of his state, he quickly pulled up his pants, shooting an apologetic look at Hyuuga who was in his disarrayed state between anger and confusion. Sasuke noticed, however, that when Neji caught a glimpse of the "black-haired guy" who looked ready to explode, he shot the Uchiha a raised eyebrow as if to say "It's this bad?"

Sasuke, who thought against running and making it worse, ran his hand threw his hair, a gesture that showed Neji his distress that also stated, yes, this was exactly how it was.

**-H.J.-**

The sight of Sasuke cumming for another man made Itachi's blood run cold to the point that he could feel the numbness in his chest being pursued by extreme hurt.

Gripping tightly onto the neck of the man's shirt, he jerked him backward, shoving him onto the dirty tiles.

His fists rested at his sides, knuckled up and white, but Itachi restrained himself as the repetitive image of his younger brother's moans for another rang in his mind.

"What's your problem, Itachi?" growled Sasuke, and Itachi had to close his eyes briefly to abate his desire to snap.

"Shut up," came the unbelievably cold reply. He couldn't give a flying fuck about who saw or heard as he slammed the nonplussed younger boy against the wall, hand to throat.

"This is completely unacceptable," he hissed barely above a whisper due to his need to control his sanity. His cold, black eyes burned a glare into Sasuke's widened ones before, still pinning his brother against the wall, turned his neck to pin down the brunette with the same threatening look. "And you," he spat murderously at the Hyuuga who had picked himself up and was now watching Sasuke with worried eyes, "you stay the fuck away from him."

That was all Itachi could manage before he released Sasuke, gripped tightly onto his wrist, and tugged him out of the hall. Before they became immersed into the crowded dance floor, Itachi glanced back once more at the man with narrowed eyes warning him to keep his distance.

But the great Neji Hyuuga, completely composed despite the situation, daringly stared back before he slowly began lifting his hand to his face. He swiped the pad of his thumb at the edge of his mouth, coating it with the cum that was still there, and made a show as he lifted it up to his smirking lips, which hosted a pink tongue that came out to lick it clean off. To sell the act of challenging the older Uchiha more than he already had, he closed his eyes, allowing a facade of bliss to envelope it.

When he opened his eyes, the brothers had disappeared, but the brunette knew that the Itachi character had saw it all.

Protective, older brothers were too much, he thought to himself, but for Sasuke, he would make the exception.

**-H.J.-**

"Itachi! You're hurting me," cried the smaller ravenette.

The crisp night air blew in their faces as Itachi dragged Sasuke into the parking lot and towards the black Mercedes at the end of the lot. Despite the boy's cries and attempt to pry his hand away, Itachi didn't release his wrist.

When they came to a stop, Itachi opened the passenger seat of his car and shoved Sasuke inside. "We're leaving," he managed to say stiffly.

Itachi got into the car next, not saying any more than he had or sparing the young Uchiha a glance, started the engine, and began the twenty-minute drive home. Along the empty, dimly lit streets, Itachi sped.

Sasuke noticed this, too. It started with the speed limit at forty-five and exponentially grew and grew until they were driving ninety in a forty zone. The silence, coupled with the speeding, something that his brother never thought to do for safety reasons, caused the young ravenette to hold his breath as he broke out in a nervous sweat.

His hand, which had been resting on his thighs, scrunched up in anxiety as he took note of the fact that Itachi didn't seem to want to slow down anytime soon. Additionally, the mere thought of asking his big brother to slow down was more intimidating to Sasuke that the speed they were going at.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't think twice about asking, but until he figured out exactly what made Itachi lose his temper, he didn't want to speak a single word.

The young Uchiha knew that he had done something wrong, but he was at a loss as to what it was. Itachi had known about his preference of males over females as long as Sasuke had known, so the shock of him with a man was nonexistent. Furthermore, the seething man next to him acted as though Sasuke had run over his cat, which hadn't been possible since he didn't have a car to drive. Worse, though, he acted as though Sasuke somehow betrayed him by being with someone else, not that they had any stronger ties than their sibling relationship.

He supposed that had been the most likely scenario for Itachi's violent behavior. This conjecture was purely based on Itachi's recent, extremely odd behavior.

Sasuke wasn't stupid nor was he blind. Something was different about the way Itachi coddled him within the last few years. Ever since he hit puberty at twelve years old, Itachi had kept a watchful eye on him as if he was expecting him to somehow combust and do something stupid.

They were fairly odd signs, ones that didn't take a genius to notice. It first began with the blank stares that he received when his brother thought he wasn't looking. Surely, he hadn't been, but he could always feel the intensity of the older Uchiha's stares burning into his back when he happened to run downstairs for a glass of milk or while he was cooking dinner.

Other times, on days that Sasuke didn't have a shred of clothing left to wear and was forced to do laundry, he would march upstairs to get his hamper only to notice that it was empty. When he checked his drawers, it was full of his neatly-folded clothing smelling distinctly of laundry detergent.

And sometimes, when Sasuke came home from school starving after running cross-country, he would find the entire bottom shelf of the fridge stocked with large, ripe tomatoes.

And yet despite all of this, despite all the sweet gestures, Itachi didn't say much to Sasuke. He was always around, but never really acknowledged the younger boy.

All this was all between the ages of twelve and thirteen.

When fourteen hit, things got really weird.

In a household of two, they had always ate according to their own schedules, finding it easier to prepare their meals separately as their schedules didn't match very often. It was convenient and each of them didn't have to worry about what to make for dinner.

But one Friday evening while Sasuke was munching on a bowl of fried rice at the kitchen counter and recounting his day's work, thinking random thoughts, Itachi grabbed a plate, helped himself to a bowl of rice from the pan on the stove, pulled up a chair across from the boy and sat down.

The action was so shocking to the younger ravenette that he choked on the rice that he was in the process of swallowing, making a fool out of himself as he gasped for air between coughs. When the coughing had stopped, he stared openly at his brother with curious eyes and was sure that he had caught a glimpse of a smile hidden behind the mug of green tea.

Still, neither said a word to the other and each ate their food silently. But after that fateful night, Itachi began joining him for dinner every night at six.

He supposed that hadn't been the oddest moment.

The most peculiar action, perhaps, was when Itachi began to make Sasuke go everywhere he went as though he was afraid to let him out of his sight. When Itachi made it clear to him that he expected Sasuke to be with him whenever possible, the boy had to ask why to satiate his curiosity at such an out-of-the-blue request from the brother who had been avoiding him for quite the while.

"There are bad people out there" was the given reply. "I'd rather have you safe by my side." This was followed by a caress to his cheek and a small smile that was the main reason Sasuke nodded. He had been in a daze by such an act, not having witnessed his big brother's gentle smile for years.

And then, after that bizarre, short conversation, Sasuke caught on quick that his brother tended to go out a lot whether it was for a short period of time or not. Thus, every time he was in the living room and noticed his brother picking up the keys, he was up on the balls of his feet, dressed and ready to leave. That had been the reason why he wore fitting clothes rather than being shirtless and lazing around in a pair of sweats. Itachi was spontaneous, and Sasuke liked to keep up.

At one point, it had crossed Sasuke's mind that what Itachi wanted of him was quite ridiculous. He only saw this as time passed, at the age of sixteen. It grew to the point where grocery shopping down the street was a must for Sasuke, but despite his inward musings, he didn't outwardly object. He had always been very fond of his brother; the desire to spend all of his time possible with Itachi was a childhood wish that was being granted in his days as a teenager. He couldn't complain.

Yet, again, in spite of everything, they rarely exchanged words.

He wanted to know what prompted his brother's increasingly abnormal actions. After his musings, he could only surmise that Itachi was under some sort of pressure to be a better guardian ever since their parents passed away when he was twelve and Itachi had just turned eighteen.

When he had settled on the logical conclusion that his brother's behavior was due to his inability to process the situation he had been caught in and, thus, fulfill his role as the parental person that he had been assigned to be to advise Sasuke in his rights and wrongs, he realized that the car had stopped in their driveway. Notwithstanding such, he noticed that Itachi's hands were stilled on the wheel even though the engine was off.

"I'm sorry, Itachi," Sasuke said sincerely, registering that he had opened his mouth only after uttering the words.

Itachi didn't even spare him a glance nor did he give away any indication that he had heard Sasuke's apology. If anything, it seemed to eat away at the older Uchiha more as he stepped out the car without a word and disappeared into the house, causing Sasuke to chase after him.

"Itachi, I know what this is about," he said, chest heaving up and down as the door closed behind him. Albeit his words were not as confident as they sounded in his head, his brother's retreating form froze upon hearing them.

The young Uchiha took a deep breath and continued. "I know it's been hard on you to raise me ever since our parents died, and I really appreciate you putting up with me all the time despite my moods. I know that, with you being older, you have to think of every aspect of my life and choose the best one for me. I love you for that. I really do. Other siblings may complain about their older brothers and sisters, but I am grateful for your small gestures that, ultimately, make my day: like when you check up on me late at night when you think I'm asleep, or when you put money in my wallet when I'm not looking because you're afraid I might not have any when I need it."

Sasuke's speech was rapid as he drained his brain of every thought he had stored away up until this moment. He was afraid that if he didn't say them now, he'd never get a chance to talk to his brother again. "I know that you bringing me along is your way of communicating with me, but I am really alright. I'm growing up fine and the fact that you constantly believe that my personal relationships and choices in them will affect my future is understandable, but I know when to stop. And it's just that sometimes I feel like you're so caught up in being a guardian, in trying to do the best for me, that you forget to live your own life," lamented the teenager. "I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I'm sorry I caused you to be so angry tonight, Aniki. I just didn't think things through before acting and for that, I am sorry."

Silence followed his speech and within the dark room that was only brightened by the moonlight, Sasuke couldn't gauge a reaction from the elder Uchiha. Finally, after minutes of standing there and hoping for a response, he got one.

"You couldn't be any more wrong, my dear Otouto," came Itachi's quiet words. Even though his statement said one thing, Itachi's shoulders visibly relaxed a large degree. "I don't 'put up' with you, Sasuke," he said, slowly turning around and began taking calculating steps towards the teenager who stood in the middle of the living room.

"I watch over you, try to understand you, take care of you. I don't get caught up in your life that I forget mine," he whispered as his footsteps came to a halt in front of his baby brother, who stared up at him and concentrated on his words. "I don't get caught up in your life that I forget mine because you are my life. I live _for _you," Itachi confessed bringing the back of his palm to stroke lightly the boy's cheek, afraid that he'd be tempted too much if he allowed himself more than a feathery touch. The surprise was clearly evident on Sasuke's face, but Itachi had no shame in his confession. "How could I not?" he uttered, cold eyes melting slightly under the boy's confused face.

"I don't understand," whispered Sasuke, eyes fluttering at the show of affection. When Itachi didn't respond, he gripped onto the lingering hand, desperate to feel his brother's touch against his skin. He didn't want light touches; Sasuke wanted to know, to feel, Itachi's presence, an affirmation that he wasn't dreaming and his brother was really talking to him for once.

Itachi's eyes followed Sasuke's action, watching intently as the boy brought the palm of his hand to his face to cup his left cheek. "What you don't understand, my beautiful Otouto, is that no one has the right to touch you like that, especially not someone you barely know," he said, a flare of anger tainting his voice. "No one's good enough for you… not even me," the fervent statement ended in a quiet, almost inaudible whisper, but Sasuke had picked it up.

"What do you mean, Itachi? Why not even you?" he asked, hands gripping tight onto Itachi's to keep it in place when he felt it slipping as though the older Uchiha didn't have the heart to keep touching him.

"I'm not good enough for you, Otouto," Itachi replied sadly, eyes flickering away when he confessed yet again before settling back on Sasuke's.

"But you're my brother. No one is better than you," the boy said wholeheartedly, truly believing in what he was saying.

To such words, a small smile, despite it being sad, formed at the edges of Itachi's mouth. "If I'm the best, Sasuke, why did you choose a stranger over me?" he asked, his previous anger being replaced by the wretched question.

The younger Uchiha's forehead scrunched in confusion once again. "I don't understand, Itachi. You tell me that you're not good enough, but you're also telling me that I should have chosen you?" The statement ended as an inquiry and extracted another forlorn smile from Itachi.

"Yes," he said simply, bringing more confusion to his younger brother.

"... Are you saying that you want me to love you differently?" he asked slowly, assessing the words as they came out and the implications that came with them.

Part of Sasuke was afraid by his own question and part of him, the part that desired such intimacy, thought it was thrilling. As he licked his lips in thought, he didn't notice Itachi watching him carefully as he closed the distance between them till only a small gap laid between their lips.

The touch of another hand on the other side of his face startled him out of his thoughts, and Sasuke blinked as he took in his brother's lovely features. He couldn't remember the last time Itachi had been this close to him. The younger Uchiha didn't pull away, fascinated by his Nii-san's handsome face and seemingly enticing lips.

There wasn't much else that Sasuke had considered besides Itachi's searching eyes when he closed the distance between their lips. They didn't clash together, hot and heavy, like Sasuke had experienced with Neji. Itachi was making it a soft kiss, as if he was testing the waters. Although being completely different from his usual encounters, Sasuke felt a spark soar its way up from the pit of his stomach, nestling itself in the cavity of Sasuke's chest.

The boy's hands released Itachi's and weaved themselves around his Aniki's neck, a gesture that deepened their kiss a great deal and knocked Sasuke's breath away. Itachi's kiss was gentle, loving, and quite possibly the most addicting kiss that he had ever received due to its indescribable intensity.

When they parted for oxygen, a string of saliva hung between their lips, drawing both of their attention. A small smile lingered on Sasuke's face, but it disappeared when he noticed that Itachi had averted his eyes to anywhere but his face as if he was ashamed of himself, ashamed of what he had encouraged. His hands slipped back to his sides and Sasuke was too late to pull them back.

"Kiss me again," he whispered as they were still in close proximity to each other. His hands tightened around Itachi's neck desperately and his features became frantic when he felt his brother shift away.

"I can't," was the painful reply.

"Yes, you can," Sasuke reaffirmed, attempting to pull Itachi close to him. His brother, however, simply pried his hands off of his body and gently settled them down.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Itachi said, his countenance saddened by the mere thought of rejecting his Otouto, something that he rarely did. Turning his back onto Sasuke once again, he murmured, "I'm addicted enough as it is. Don't tempt me, Otouto." It sounded more like a plea than a warning to Sasuke's delicate ears, and he felt tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

"I don't understand…" were his final words, but the room was already empty.

**~ Fin ~**

**A/N: One-shot sequel coming up soon. Here's the summary: Despite Itachi not believing he's any good for his Otouto, Sasuke tries to find a way to show Itachi that he's more than good enough for him.**


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